At present, a card using magnetic stripes is mainly used as a credit card or a cash card of a bank. The card using magnetic stripes, however, faces a serious problem from the standpoint of security against, for example, an unauthorized use. As a card for solving this problem, an IC card carrying an IC chip as described in IC card published by Kabushiki-kaisha Denki Shoin (July, 1989) is known. Also, as an example of a system utilizing an IC card and for use with electronic money, an electronic purse system is described in JP-A-5-504643.
By utilizing the IC card, security can be improved greatly against unauthorized uses such as duplication of card and data alteration. Accordingly, restraint unauthorized uses such as robbery of IC card, duplication of card and data alteration can be expected. On the other hand, it is conceivable that personal information specific to an IC card owner utilizing features of the IC card such as ability to rewrite data, high security and ability to store a large amount of data--for example, the frequency in shopping, the utilization point number and the personal clothing size information--is stored in the IC card. Accordingly, while the main procedure in the past is to stop (invalidate) the card function in the event that a card is lost, it is necessary in future to recover the personal information stored in the IC card in addition to the stoppage (invalidation) of the card function. How to recover a missing card when the IC card is lost is of importance. Especially, in a system utilizing cash having anonymity in electronic purses by storing the cash in an IC card, the effective recovery in the event of loss of the IC card leads to an important problem of the recovery of cash information.